1997's most hotly anticipated tour couldn't start anywhere better than
the Barrowlands, one of the best rock venues in the country. Tonight
there's a frenzied atmosphere, absolutely pin-sharp sound and a sense of
anticipation that you can almost hold in your hand.

All of which means that Incubus can't lose, and Korn's youthful labelmates
attack their set to screams from the front rows. It's a brash amalgam of
Bad Brains meets RATM, with the added element of deft scratch mixing from
DJ Gavin Koppel. And yes, frontman Brandon Boyd is a heartbreaker, with a
chest like a washboard and a cheesy grin. Stars by the end of the year
definitely.

The Urge are also a welcome surprise. Their brash Fishbone-y ska-funk
could have died on it's arse tonight, but instead it turns Barrowlands
into a sea of leaping bodies, egged on by chirpy frontman Karl, who soon
has everybody screaming their choruses and making devil hand signals. The
energy onstage is frenetic and infectious, the hall brightened by the
crisp blasts of brass of the charming Matt, Bill and Todd. Infinitely
better live than on a record, expect to see them kick-starting festivals
throughout Europe this summer.

Korn come out fighting, their fierce power and anger unrelenting.
Watching them is like being knocked off your feet, the low-end rumble
pounding your chest, the howling vocals seeping through your skull.
Attempting to quantify what it is that makes Korn so special would take
all week. Simply put, the quintet are a phenomenally focussed live unit,
drilled to perfection and led by Fieldy's deliciously looping bass and the
militaristic drumming of David Silveria, surely rock's finest drummer of
the moment. Draped around the rhythm section are the jagged, edgy guitars
of Head barking backing vocals, and super-cool Munky. Four different
characters, Four different points of focus -- and that's before you even
get to Jonathan Davis.

Currently, there is no other band who so perfectly capture the mood
of their audience than Korn, and no other rock star more tuned in to the
minds of his followers than Jonathan Davis. It's not hard to see this
scrawny, dreadlocked, self-confessed fuck-up as some kind of Pied Piper,
as what seems like a hundred thousand adoring adolescents chant "All my
life, who am I?" In unison with him.

From the second song "Blind", Korn are flying all the way. 15 songs,
including a segue of 'Low Rider' into a crushing 'Shoots and Ladders' and
of course, barrowlands erupts when Davis pulls out his bagpipes. But there
are just no low points. The set sweeps form a pummeling 'Good God' and
'Clown', and pounds relentlessly on via 'Ball Tongue' and 'Fake' to a
climatic 'Faget', Fieldy's bass upright, Head's hair flying, Munky lost in
it, Jonathan trembling, groin thumping the mike stand. They miss out
'Proud' - though it's on the setlist - as David has injured his wrist and
there's no encore. There's no need: by now Korn have said it all. With
Metallica past their peak and Sepultura off the scene, Korn are surely
now poised to be the biggest extreme rock band in the world. There is no
place to hide.

MOST ROCKING MOMENT:
'Good God', 'Blind', 'Faget' -- you name it, it was in there

LEAST ROCKING MOMENT:
Hardly likely, was it?

BEST ONSTAGE QUOTE:
No idle chatter but you can't go much better than the war cry of "YOU CAN
SUCK MY DICK AND FUCKING LIKE IT!"

VERDICT:
If you missed this tour, it was probably the biggest mistake of your year